The U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions on numerous names for human rights abuses on Thursday, including on Ramzan Kadyrov, owner of MMA promotion ACA.
The sanctions put in place by the department now block ACA, among his other businesses, from operating in America or with American citizens.
The decision comes after numerous instances of human rights violations that were acted out by Kadyrov or people involved in the organization he leads, the Kadyrovtsy.
“Kadyrov and the forces he commands … are implicated in the murder of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” said a press release by the treasury on Thursday.
The release also mentioned the Kadyrovtsy’s “kidnapping, torturing and kidnapping of the LGBTI population in the Chechen Republic.”
Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA has been extensively covered by Karim Zidan for five years.
ACA, also known as Absolute Championship Akhmat, is an active MMA promotion that operates out of Russia. They have held 14 events in 2020, including three to come.
While most ACA talent is from Russia, recent shows have also included Brazilian and American fighters as well.
Sanctions placed on Kadyrov also affect football team FC Akhmat Grozny, a team in the Russian Premier League. Sanction also affected the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, Megastroyinvest and Chechen Mineral Waters Ltd.
The sanctions put on Kadyrov came as part of an announcement that also revealed sanctions put on people in Haiti and Yemen.
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